Veterans Day parade is FridayDowntown Russellville will play host to the annual Veterans Day parade, a tradition over 60 years old, at 4 p.m. on Friday. For years, the parade was conducted by the VFW Roger’s Rye Post 2283. Around 1998, Jim Bob Humphrey asked if they needed help with the parade and the result was the Salute to Freedom group, which is now responsible for the parade. Humphrey, the Salute to Freedom’s chairman, said he remembers watching the parade in 1997. “...

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Patricia Spears pspears@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

A rewarding field tripFirst through fourth grade students at Oakland Heights Elementary School earned a field trip from reading and writing over the summer. Students took a tour last week of Arkansas Tech University. There were 51 students in the group, the largest that Oakland Heights has had to take the tour. Students experienced the ATU Hospitality Experience, ran on the Thone Stadium football field, took a walking tour of the campus, had lunch in the cafeteria,...

Clean Line partners with GEClean Line Energy announced it has hired the U.S. industrial giant GE to provide the high-voltage transformers for the controversial $2 billion wind-energy project expected to begin construction through Arkansas in the second quarter of 2017. The Plains and Eastern Clean Line is a 720-mile electric transmission infrastructure project that will enable the delivery of enough low-cost, clean energy from the Oklahoma Panhandle region to power more...

Pope early voting hits 16,000-plusEarly voting for the 2016 General Election concluded Monday evening with a record day's turnout of 1,853 voters bringing the two-week early voting total to 16,117. For those who didn't take the opportunity to early vote, polls will be open today from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters are reminded to adhere to the following rules at polling locations: n You are not allowed to have a candidate's t-shirt, button, hat or other articles of influence in...

Traffic stop leads to arrestsNatalie V. Oswald, 31, told District Judge Don Bourne she thought she was "just being a good Samaritan" when she agreed to drive for Nikki R. Jackson, 31, on Sunday. Instead, the pair ended up in jail after a traffic stop revealed the vehicle they were driving was reported stolen. "I didn't know the vehicle was stolen," Oswald said. The pair were stopped at approximately 7:44 p.m. on East 16th St. after an officer allegedly observed them trave...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
simpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Veterans Day parade is FridayDowntown Russellville will play host to the annual Veterans Day parade, a tradition over 60 years old, at 4 p.m. on Friday. For years, the parade was conducted by the VFW Roger's Rye Post 2283. Around 1998, Jim Bob Humphrey asked if they needed help with the parade and the result was the Salute to Freedom group, which is now responsible for the parade. Humphrey, the Salute to Freedom's chairman, said he remembers watching the parade in 1997. "...

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BY PATRICIA SPEARS
pspears@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Halloween 2016The Courier reached out to our readers and asked for Halloween 2016 pictures. These are a few of the submissions we received. Like The Courier's Facebook page to be informed of future chances to submit photos for our Lifestyles section, news and other community events.

ObituariesSyble Guess Syble Guess, 100, of Russellville passed away Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 at Russellville Nursing and Rehab Center in Russellville. The daughter of Ben and Ella Moffett Cole, she was born March 24, 1916, in Perryville. She was a homemaker, loving wife, mother and grandmother. Syble was a member of the First Assembly of God of Russellville. She and her husband Lonnie pastored several area churches for over 50 years throughout their life...

Defense huge in Wonder Boys winWEATHERFORD, Okla. -- Arkansas Tech University's defense forced two fourth-quarter turnovers and made a last-minute goal line stand to give the Wonder Boys a 24-20 Great American Conference win over Southwestern Oklahoma State University at Milam Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Wonder Boys (6-4) clinched back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in a decade and ended a three-game losing streak against the Bulldogs. S...

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BY SAM STRASNER
arkansastechnews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Relay for Life no shave NovemberResidents of Pope County may soon see some of their law enforcement personnel sporting a bit more facial hair than usual. The same can be said of patrons in one Pope County school district. The Pope County Sheriff’s Department and the police departments in Pottsville and Atkins, as well as the Atkins School District, are joining forces in a special “No Shave November” fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The participants agreed to accep...

ANO unit outages explainedThe city saw the usual maintenance of one nuclear reactor, but the unusual maintenance of another. Arkansas Nuclear One's Unit 1 reactor underwent a planned refueling outage, which began on Sept. 24. Jennifer White, senior communications specialist for ANO, said refueling outages are nothing out of the ordinary. "Every 18 to 24 months, each nuclear plant must come offline to refuel," White said in an email. "Because work scopes will vary from ...

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BY SIERRA MURPHYmurphy@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Wayne Ridings: A leader in community service workWayne Ridings has been recognized not just locally but statewide over the years for his community service work. Most recently, Ridings was recognized with the 2016 Outstanding Volunteer award at the Standing Ovations ceremony conducted at the Boys and Girls Club in Russellville. Out of the accomplishments and work Ridings has done, he said his favorite and biggest accomplishment was reconstructing the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) building in Dard...

City focus shifts to the futureWhere do the residents of Russellville want to go from here? What is planned out now will have a big impact on what occurs in 2030 or 2040. Over two dozen people attended Thursday’s visioning workshop for ReImagine Russellville 2040, the new comprehensive plan for the Russellville community. Mayor Randy Horton said after several meetings about the city’s issues, those inside City Hall started to focus on what direction will Russellville go tow...

Doodle Rocks to be placed in RussellvilleGirl Scouts in Troop 6760 have put together a project for their Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn. Rebecca Tate, troop leader, said the Bronze Award is achieved by conducting a community service project that has some level of sustainability. On Aug. 1, the girls voted on a project they called Doodle Rock. They have worked on this project for the past two months and now is ready. The project consisted of the girls dec...